Facilitating compact signaling design for reserved resource configuration in wireless communication systems

ABSTRACT

A system facilitating compact signaling design for reserved resource configuration via a multi-dimensional bitmap is provided for a wireless communication system. A method comprises: determining a multi-dimensional bitmap (MDB) in time and frequency domains, wherein the time domain is represented by an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) symbol and the frequency domain is represented by an OFDM subcarrier. The determining comprises: selecting a group of reserved resource allocations of the MDB in which data information is not to be communicated; assigning a first value for the OFDM multiplexed symbol and the OFDM subcarrier according to a location of elements of the group of reserved resource allocations; and assigning, to other portions of the MDB other than the group of reserved resource allocations, a second value distinct from the first value. The method also comprises facilitating, by the device, transmitting the MDB to a mobile device.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The subject patent application is a continuation of, and claims priorityto each of, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/870,086, filed May 8,2020, and entitled “FACILITATING COMPACT SIGNALING DESIGN FOR RESERVEDRESOURCE CONFIGURATION IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS,” which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/016,226 (now U.S.Pat. No. 10,681,620), filed Jun. 22, 2018, and entitled “FACILITATINGCOMPACT SIGNALING DESIGN FOR RESERVED RESOURCE CONFIGURATION IN WIRELESSCOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS,” which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/675,339 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,009,832), filedAug. 11, 2017, and entitled “FACILITATING COMPACT SIGNALING DESIGN FORRESERVED RESOURCE CONFIGURATION IN WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS,” theentireties of which applications are hereby incorporated by referenceherein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject disclosure relates generally to communications systems, and,for example, to systems, methods and/or machine-readable storage mediafor facilitating compact signaling design for reserved resourceconfiguration via a multi-dimensional bitmap in a wireless communicationsystem.

BACKGROUND

To meet the huge demand for data centric applications, Third GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) systems and systems that employ one or moreaspects of the specifications of the Fourth Generation (4G) standard forwireless communications will be extended to a Fifth Generation (5G)standard for wireless communications. Unique challenges exist to providelevels of service associated with forthcoming 5G standards.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example, non-limiting message sequence flow chartto facilitate compact signaling design for reserved resourceconfiguration via a multi-dimensional bitmap in accordance with one ormore embodiments described herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example, non-limiting block diagram of a basestation device that can facilitate compact signaling design for reservedresource configuration via multi-dimensional bitmap in accordance withone or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example, non-limiting block diagram of a mobiledevice for which compact signaling design for reserved resourceconfiguration via a multi-dimensional bitmap can be facilitated inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example, non-limiting multi-dimensional bitmapthat can be employed to facilitate compact signaling design for reservedresource configuration in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 illustrate flowcharts of methods thatfacilitate compact signaling design for reserved resource configurationin accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of a computer that can be employedin accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

One or more embodiments are now described with reference to thedrawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to likeelements throughout. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the various embodiments. It is evident,however, that the various embodiments can be practiced without thesespecific details (and without applying to any particular networkedenvironment or standard).

As used in this disclosure, in some embodiments, the terms “component,”“system” and the like are intended to refer to, or comprise, acomputer-related entity or an entity related to an operational apparatuswith one or more specific functionalities, wherein the entity can beeither hardware, a combination of hardware and software, software, orsoftware in execution. As an example, a component may be, but is notlimited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, anobject, an executable, a thread of execution, computer-executableinstructions, a program, and/or a computer. By way of illustration andnot limitation, both an application running on a server and the servercan be a component.

One or more components may reside within a process and/or thread ofexecution and a component may be localized on one computer and/ordistributed between two or more computers. In addition, these componentscan execute from various computer readable media having various datastructures stored thereon. The components may communicate via localand/or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having oneor more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting withanother component in a local system, distributed system, and/or across anetwork such as the Internet with other systems via the signal). Asanother example, a component can be an apparatus with specificfunctionality provided by mechanical parts operated by electric orelectronic circuitry, which is operated by a software application orfirmware application executed by a processor, wherein the processor canbe internal or external to the apparatus and executes at least a part ofthe software or firmware application. As yet another example, acomponent can be an apparatus that provides specific functionalitythrough electronic components without mechanical parts, the electroniccomponents can comprise a processor therein to execute software orfirmware that confers at least in part the functionality of theelectronic components. While various components have been illustrated asseparate components, it will be appreciated that multiple components canbe implemented as a single component, or a single component can beimplemented as multiple components, without departing from exampleembodiments.

Further, the various embodiments can be implemented as a method,apparatus or article of manufacture using standard programming and/orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable (or machine-readable) device or computer-readable (ormachine-readable) storage/communications media. For example, computerreadable storage media can comprise, but are not limited to, magneticstorage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips), opticaldisks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD)), smartcards, and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, key drive). Ofcourse, those skilled in the art will recognize many modifications canbe made to this configuration without departing from the scope or spiritof the various embodiments.

In addition, the words “example” and “exemplary” are used herein to meanserving as an instance or illustration. Any embodiment or designdescribed herein as “example” or “exemplary” is not necessarily to beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments ordesigns. Rather, use of the word example or exemplary is intended topresent concepts in a concrete fashion. As used in this application, theterm “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” rather than an exclusive“or”. That is, unless specified otherwise or clear from context, “Xemploys A or B” is intended to mean any of the natural inclusivepermutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both Aand B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any of the foregoinginstances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as used in thisapplication and the appended claims should generally be construed tomean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from context tobe directed to a singular form.

Moreover, terms such as “mobile device equipment,” “mobile station,”“mobile,” subscriber station,” “access terminal,” “terminal,” “handset,”“communication device,” “mobile device” (and/or terms representingsimilar terminology) can refer to a wireless device utilized by asubscriber or mobile device of a wireless communication service toreceive or convey data, control, voice, video, sound, gaming orsubstantially any data-stream or signaling-stream. The foregoing termsare utilized interchangeably herein and with reference to the relateddrawings. Likewise, the terms “access point (AP),” “Base Station (B S),”BS transceiver, BS device, cell site, cell site device, “Node B (NB),”“evolved Node B (eNode B),” “home Node B (HNB)” and the like, areutilized interchangeably in the application, and refer to a wirelessnetwork component or appliance that transmits and/or receives data,control, voice, video, sound, gaming or substantially any data-stream orsignaling-stream from one or more subscriber stations. Data andsignaling streams can be packetized or frame-based flows.

Furthermore, the terms “device,” “communication device,” “mobiledevice,” “subscriber,” “customer entity,” “consumer,” “customer entity,”“entity” and the like are employed interchangeably throughout, unlesscontext warrants particular distinctions among the terms. It should beappreciated that such terms can refer to human entities or automatedcomponents supported through artificial intelligence (e.g., a capacityto make inference based on complex mathematical formalisms), which canprovide simulated vision, sound recognition and so forth.

Embodiments described herein can be exploited in substantially anywireless communication technology, comprising, but not limited to,wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi), global system for mobile communications(GSM), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), worldwideinteroperability for microwave access (WiMAX), enhanced general packetradio service (enhanced GPRS), third generation partnership project(3GPP) long term evolution (LTE), third generation partnership project 2(3GPP2) ultra mobile broadband (UMB), high speed packet access (HSPA),Z-Wave, Zigbee and other 802.XX wireless technologies and/or legacytelecommunication technologies.

In traditional LTE Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) RE mappingsignaling, the LTE PDSCH resource element (RE) mapping scheme wasdesigned to map around known signals and other channels.Correspondingly, the signaling was designed to indicate theconfigurations of those RS/channel so the mobile device can implicitlyknow the RE locations (e.g., the RE mapping pattern for a givenparameter set is implicitly derived from the following parameters:crs-PortsCount-r11; crs-FreqShift-r11; mbsfn-SubframeConfigList-r11;csi-RS-ConfigZPId-r11; pdsch-Start-r11; qcl-CSI-RS-ConfigNZPId-r11; andzeroTxPowerCSI-RS2-r12.

It is foreseen that 5G can benefit from being optimized to fit a varietyof traffic and services. Therefore, the first released NR should ideallybe “future compatible”. Forward compatibility can be facilitated byhaving the first released version of NR co-exist with future servicesefficiently. That is the motivation to introduce reserved resource inNR.

In general, a reserved resource is a high layer configured resource forthe mobile device to avoid transmission and/or reception within. In thefuture, some new services are introduced in NR where some RS or dataresource need to be introduced. In this case, the network can simplyconfigure them as reserved resource to legacy mobile devices to avoidsevere impact to those legacy mobile devices.

As the reserved resource is designed for future services, the LTE typeof RE mapping signaling is not enough since the future RS is not knownnow. Therefore, the signaling must be flexible. However, some systemsmay disadvantageously utilize large signaling overhead, for each mobiledevice. For example, in some cases, per RE bitmap requires 12*14=168bits for signaling.

New Radio (NR) will allow for semi-statically and/or reserved resourcesin both time and frequency domain to overcome the aforementionedshortcomings of LTE. One or more embodiments described herein canprovide for approaches to configure reserved resources.

Systems, methods and/or machine-readable storage media for facilitatingcompact signaling via a multi-dimensional bitmap in a 5G wirelesscommunication system are provided herein. One or more embodimentsdescribed herein can provide a compact signaling design for a reservedresource. For example, a multi-dimensional (e.g., two-dimensional)bitmap can be used as signaling to configure reserved resources in thegranularity of one resource element (RE). The two-dimensional bitmap isconstructed by overlaying two bitmaps separately (a first bitmap in thetime domain and a second bitmap in the frequency domain).

Legacy wireless systems such as LTE, Long-Term Evolution Advanced(LTE-A), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) etc. can have downlink controlchannels that carry information about the scheduling grants. Typically,this includes a number of multiple input multiple output (MIMO) layersscheduled, transport block sizes, modulation for each codeword,parameters related to hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), subbandlocations and also precoding matrix index corresponding to the subbands.

Typically, the following information can be transmitted based on thedownlink control information (DCI) format: Localized/Distributed virtualresource block (VRB) assignment flag, resource block assignment,modulation and coding scheme, HARQ process number, new data indicator,redundancy version, transmit power control (TPC) command for uplinkcontrol channel, downlink assignment index, precoding matrix indexand/or number of layers.

As used herein, “5G” can also be referred to as New Radio (NR) access.Accordingly, systems, methods and/or machine-readable storage media forfacilitating RE mapping for efficient use of the downlink controlchannel in a 5G wireless communication system are desired. As usedherein, one or more aspects of a 5G network can comprise, but is notlimited to, data rates of several tens of megabits per second (Mbps)supported for tens of thousands of users; at least one gigabit persecond (Gbps) to be offered simultaneously to tens of users (e.g., tensof workers on the same office floor); several hundreds of thousands ofsimultaneous connections supported for massive sensor deployments;spectral efficiency significantly enhanced compared to 4G; improvementin coverage relative to 4G; signaling efficiency enhanced compared to4G; and/or latency significantly reduced compared to LTE.

One or more embodiments described herein can include systems, apparatus,methods and/or machine-readable storage media that can facilitatecompact signaling via a multi-dimensional bitmap in a 5G wirelesscommunication system are provided herein. In one embodiment, anapparatus is provided. The apparatus can comprise: a processor; and amemory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, facilitate performance of operations. The operations cancomprise: determining a multi-dimensional bitmap in a time domain and afrequency domain, wherein the time domain is represented by anorthogonal frequency division multiplexed symbol and the frequencydomain is represented by an orthogonal frequency division multiplexedsubcarrier. The determining comprises: selecting a group of reservedresource allocations of the multi-dimensional bitmap in which datainformation is not to be communicated; assigning, to the group ofreserved resource allocations, a first value for the orthogonalfrequency division multiplexed symbol of the multi-dimensional bitmapand the orthogonal frequency division multiplexed subcarrier of themulti-dimensional bitmap according to a location of elements of thegroup of reserved resource allocations; and assigning, to other portionsof the multi-dimensional bitmap other than the group of reservedresource allocations, a second value distinct from the first value. Theoperations further comprise transmitting the multi-dimensional bitmap toa mobile device.

In another embodiment, a method is provided. The method comprisesdetermining, by a device comprising a processor, a multi-dimensionalbitmap in a time domain and a frequency domain, wherein the time domainis represented by an orthogonal frequency division multiplexed symboland the frequency domain is represented by an orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexed subcarrier. The determining comprises: selecting agroup of reserved resource allocations of the multi-dimensional bitmapin which data information is not to be communicated; assigning, to thegroup of reserved resource allocations, a first value for the orthogonalfrequency division multiplexed symbol of the multi-dimensional bitmapand the orthogonal frequency division multiplexed subcarrier of themulti-dimensional bitmap according to a location of elements of thegroup of reserved resource allocations; and assigning, to other portionsof the multi-dimensional bitmap other than the group of reservedresource allocations, a second value distinct from the first value. Themethod further comprises facilitating, by the device, transmitting themulti-dimensional bitmap to a mobile device.

In yet another embodiment, a machine-readable storage medium, comprisingexecutable instructions that, when executed by a processor of anapparatus, facilitate performance of operations is provided. Theoperation comprise: receiving a multi-dimensional bitmap associated withorthogonal frequency division multiplexed symbols and orthogonalfrequency division multiplexed subcarriers, wherein themulti-dimensional bitmap comprises: reserved resource allocations viawhich signaling information is to be communicated by the apparatus to amobile device that receives the multi-dimensional bitmap and via whichdata information is not to be communicated from the apparatus, whereinthe reserved resource allocations comprise a first value for selectedones of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexed symbols of themulti-dimensional bitmap and the orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexed subcarrier of the multi-dimensional bitmap. The operationsfurther comprise receiving signaling information according to thereserved resource allocations of the multi-dimensional bitmap from themobile device.

One or more embodiments can flexibly allow a two-dimensional bitmapsignaling framework to support per RE level granularity. In addition,such two-dimensional bitmap will result in a symmetric pattern. Forasymmetric RS design, this signaling framework may include someunnecessary REs; however, it is foreseen that the resource used forfuture service is most likely to be symmetric design. Additionally, oneor more embodiments can have low overhead in comparison of 168 bitssignaling overhead per mobile device, this solution only needs 12+14=26bits for the signaling overhead per mobile device.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example, non-limiting message sequence flow chartto facilitate compact signaling design for reserved resourceconfiguration via a multi-dimensional bitmap in accordance with one ormore embodiments described herein. FIG. 2 illustrates an example,non-limiting block diagram of a base station device that can facilitatecompact signaling design for reserved resource configuration viamulti-dimensional bitmap in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein. FIG. 3 illustrates an example, non-limiting blockdiagram of a mobile device for which compact signaling design forreserved resource configuration via a multi-dimensional bitmap can befacilitated in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.FIG. 4 illustrates an example, non-limiting multi-dimensional bitmapthat can be employed to facilitate compact signaling design for reservedresource configuration in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein. Repetitive description of like elements employed inother embodiments described herein is omitted for sake of brevity.

The system 100 described herein can provide for a compact signalingdesign for the reserved resource via use of a multi-dimension (e.g.,two-dimension) bitmap as signaling to configure reserved resource in thegranularity of one RE. The two-dimensional bitmap is constructed by twobitmaps: in time and frequency domain separately.

One or more embodiments can enable the BS device 102 to dynamicallysignal the mobile device 104 to use specific REs located at particularOFDM symbol/OFDM subcarrier pairs in some embodiments as shown in FIG. 4for signaling, for example. As used herein, dynamically signaling canmean signaling of information that can change from time to time.

In some embodiments described herein, the BS device 102 can transmitinformation to the mobile device 104 configuring resource reservationvia a multi-dimensional mapping pattern. In one or more of the variousembodiments described herein, this new signaling framework uses twobitmaps to construct the reserved resources, which is of much lowersignaling overhead compared to a per RE level bitmap.

Turning back to FIG. 1, one or more of reference signals and/or pilotsignals can be transmitted as shown at 108 of FIG. 1. The referencesignals and/or the pilot signals can be beamformed or non-beamformed.The mobile device 104 can compute the channel estimates then determinethe one or more parameters associated with channel state information(CSI) reporting. The CSI report can comprise example channel qualityindicator (CQI), precoding matrix index (PMI), rank information (RI),the best subband indices, best beam indices etc. or any number of othertypes of information.

The CSI report can be sent from the mobile device 104 to the BS devicevia a feedback channel (e.g., feedback channel 110). The BS device 102scheduler can use this information in choosing the parameters forscheduling of the particular mobile device 104. As used herein, the term“BS device 102” can be interchangeable with (or include) a network, anetwork controller or any number of other network components. The mobiledevice 104 can send the scheduling parameters to the mobile device 104in the downlink control channel (e.g., downlink control channel 112).After this information is transmitted, the actual data transfer can beprovided from the BS device 102 to the mobile device 104 over the datatraffic channel 114.

The downlink control channel can carry information about the schedulinggrants. As previously discussed, typically this includes a number ofmultiple input multiple output (MIMO) layers scheduled, transport blocksizes, modulation for each codeword, parameters related to hybridautomatic repeat request (HARQ), subband locations and also precodingmatrix index corresponding to the sub bands. Additionally, typically,the following information can be transmitted based on the downlinkcontrol information (DCI) format: Localized/Distributed virtual resourceblock (VRB) assignment flag, resource block assignment, modulation andcoding scheme, HARQ process number, new data indicator, redundancyversion, transmit power control (TPC) command for uplink controlchannel, downlink assignment index, precoding matrix index and/or numberof layers.

In some embodiments, as described in more detail with reference to FIGS.2, 3 and 4, the downlink control channel can also carry data in one ormore subcarriers of an OFDM control channel symbol at specific OFDMsubcarriers to improve efficiency of the control channel.

Turning to FIG. 2, the base station device 102 can comprise acommunication component 202, a bitmap determination component 204,memory 206 and/or processor 208. In some embodiments, the communicationcomponent 202, a bitmap determination component 204, memory 206 and/orprocessor 208 can be electrically and/or communicatively coupled to oneanother to perform one or more functions of the base station device.

Turning to FIG. 3, the mobile device 104 can comprise communicationcomponent 302, resource reservation component 304, mobile deviceevaluation component 306, rate matching component 308, memory 310 and/orprocessor 312. In some embodiments, one or more of communicationcomponent 302, resource reservation component 304, mobile deviceevaluation component 306, rate matching component 308, memory 310 and/orprocessor 312 can be electrically and/or communicatively coupled to oneanother to perform one or more functions of the mobile device 104.

With reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the bitmap determination component204 of the base station device 102 can construct the multi-dimensional(e.g., two-dimensional) bitmap of FIG. 4 from two separate bitmaps. Thetwo separate bitmaps can be a first bitmap associated with time andcorresponding to OFDM symbol locations, and a second bitmap associatedwith frequency and corresponding to OFDM subcarrier locations. As shownin FIG. 4, the OFDM symbol location axis can be placed along a firstaxis and the OFDM subcarrier location axis can be placed along a secondaxis.

In constructing the multi-dimensional bitmap, for example, the bitmapdetermination component 204 can construct Bitmap-1 of FIG. 4 as X_(l)where l is the index of OFDM symbol, and construct Bitmap-2 as Y_(k)where k is the index of OFDM subcarrier. The final reserved resourcemapping can be defined by the bitmap determination component 204 b asr_(k,l)=0.

The bitmap determination component 204 can construct themulti-dimensional bitmap by overlaying the contents of the Bitmap-1 andBitmap-2 as shown in FIG. 4. One RE corresponds to one OFDM symbol intime domain and one subcarrier/tone in frequency domain.

The bitmap determination component 204 can determine, for each ofBitmap-1 and Bitmap-2, which REs will have a value of “0” (meaning themobile device can use the resource for data) or a value of “1” (meaningthe resource is only to be used for signaling). As shown, the REs 404that have a value of “1” for the OFDM symbol location and for the OFDMsubcarrier location can be employed for signaling. Other REs (e.g., RE402) can be employed for data.

Thus, the two bitmaps can cover a two-dimensional area. The bitmapdetermination component 204 can generate and/or determine the portionsof the bitmap corresponding to REs 404. The portions of the bitmapcorresponding to REs 404 are not to be used for PDCH transmission (thedata is sent only to the other areas (e.g., REs 402). The signalinginformation is therefore limited to REs 404, which are the REs where thevalue of the OFDM symbol location and the value of the OFDM subcarrierare both assigned to value “1” by the bit determination component 202.While REs 404 are indicated by value “1” in some embodiments, they couldbe indicated by the REs where the value of the OFDM symbol location andthe value of the OFDM subcarrier are both assigned to value “0” by thebit determination component 202 (while the other REs 402 are indicatedby value “1”). All such embodiments are envisaged.

The mobile device evaluation component 306 can receive and/or transmitsignaling information at REs 404 while receiving and/or transmittingdata at REs 402. The rate matching component 308 can determine that, forthe multi-dimensional bitmap (e.g., the multi-dimensional bitmap of FIG.4), altogether, there are 168 REs with 16 of those REs being REs 404(and that are therefore reserved for signaling). Accordingly, the ratematching component 308 can determine that the total available resourcefor data transmission and/or reception becomes 168-16=152 bits. As such,when the rate matching component 308 performs rate matching this means adecoder of the mobile device 104 can use different decoding rates tomatch the 152 bits. The two-dimensional bitmap of FIG. 4 can be employedby the rate matching component 308 and/or the decoder of the mobiledevice 104 as the input to the decoder to tell the decoder the decodingrate.

Accordingly, (k, l)⊂{(k,l)|X_(l)*Y_(k)=1}, where X_(l), Y_(k) are RRCsignaling configured bitmaps configured by the bitmap determinationcomponent 202. As shown in FIG. 4, Bitmap-1 and Bitmap-2 are high layerconfigured bitmaps, and the reserved resource is defined according toboth bitmaps. For a particular RE, the corresponding OFDM subcarrier andOFDM symbol index can map this RE to both bitmaps. If the bit in bothbitmaps is 1, then the RE is considered as reserved resource.

The communication component 202 of the base station device 102 cantransmit the multi-dimensional bitmap to the communication component 302of the mobile device 104. The resource reservation component 304 of themobile device 104 can determine the content of the multi-dimensionalbitmap and the mobile device evaluation component 306 can determinewhether to transmit and/or receive data and/or signaling based on thedetermination of the multi-dimensional bitmap made by the resourcereservation component 304.

In some embodiments, any number of different arrangements of REs havingvalues of “1” and “0” can be configured by the bitmap determinationcomponent 202 (and thus, the values at particular, OFDM symbol locationsand OFDM subcarriers can be different than that shown in FIG. 4). Thus,the locations of REs 404 can differ in different embodiments.

In some embodiments, the bitmap determination component 202 can designthe multi-dimensional bitmap such that there is symmetry design for REs(e.g., the REs 404 are symmetric with one another across the OFDM symbollocations and OFDM subcarriers).

The memory 206 can be a computer-readable storage medium storingcomputer-executable instructions and/or information configured toperform one or more of the functions described herein with reference tothe base station device 102. For example, in some embodiments, thememory 206 can store computer-readable storage media associated withdetermining one or more bitmaps and/or the multi-dimensional bitmap. Theprocessor 208 can perform one or more of the functions described hereinwith reference to the base station device 102.

The memory 310 can be a computer-readable storage medium storingcomputer-executable instructions and/or information configured toperform one or more of the functions described herein with reference tothe mobile device 104. For example, in some embodiments, the memory 310can store computer-readable storage media associated with determiningthe value of one or more REs of a multi-dimensional bitmap, determiningwhether to transmit and/or receive, performing rate matching etc. Theprocessor 312 can perform one or more of the functions described hereinwith reference to the mobile device 104.

FIGS. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 illustrate flowcharts of methods thatfacilitate compact signaling design for reserved resource configurationin accordance with one or more embodiments described herein. Turningfirst to FIG. 5, at 504, method 500 can comprise determining amulti-dimensional bitmap in a time domain and a frequency domain,wherein the time domain is represented by an orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexed symbol and the frequency domain is represented byan orthogonal frequency division multiplexed subcarrier, wherein thedetermining comprises: selecting a group of reserved resourceallocations of the multi-dimensional bitmap in which data information isnot to be communicated; assigning, to the group of reserved resourceallocations, a first value for the orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexed symbol of the multi-dimensional bitmap and the orthogonalfrequency division multiplexed subcarrier of the multi-dimensionalbitmap according to a location of elements of the group of reservedresource allocations; and assigning, to other portions of themulti-dimensional bitmap other than the group of reserved resourceallocations, a second value distinct from the first value. At 506,method 500 can comprise transmitting the multi-dimensional bitmap to amobile device. In some embodiments, the multi-dimensional bitmapcomprises a two-dimensional bitmap.

In some embodiments, a reserved resource allocation of the group ofreserved resource allocations is determined for one resource element ofthe multi-dimensional bitmap. In some embodiments, the first value is a“1” and the second value is a “0”. In some embodiments, a totalavailable reserved resource allocation for the signaling information isa first number of bits in a first bitmap (e.g., OFDM symbol bitmap)combined with a second number of bits in a second bitmap (e.g., OFDMsubcarriers bitmap).

In some embodiments, the multi-dimensional bitmap in the time domaincomprises a first single dimensional bitmap of the multi-dimensionalbitmap. In some embodiments, the multi-dimensional bitmap in thefrequency domain comprises a second single dimensional bitmap of themulti-dimensional bitmap.

Turning to FIG. 6, the first step of method 600 can be 502 of method500. At 602, method 600 can comprise transmitting the multi-dimensionalbitmap to a mobile device, wherein the transmitting themulti-dimensional bitmap to the mobile device is for use of the mobiledevice to facilitate performance of rate matching on a data packet at adecoder of the mobile device.

Turning to FIG. 7, the first step of method 700 can be 502 of method500. At 702, method 600 can comprise transmitting the multi-dimensionalbitmap to a mobile device, wherein the transmitting is performedaccording to a configuration applicable to radio resource controlsignaling.

Turning now to FIG. 8, at 802, method 800 can comprise: receiving amulti-dimensional bitmap associated with orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexed symbols and orthogonal frequency division multiplexedsubcarriers, wherein the multi-dimensional bitmap comprises: reservedresource allocations via which signaling information is to becommunicated by the apparatus to a mobile device that receives themulti-dimensional bitmap and via which data information is not to becommunicated from the apparatus, wherein the reserved resourceallocations comprise a first value for selected ones of the orthogonalfrequency division multiplexed symbols of the multi-dimensional bitmapand the orthogonal frequency division multiplexed subcarrier of themulti-dimensional bitmap. At 804, method 800 can comprise receivingsignaling information according to the reserved resource allocations ofthe multi-dimensional bitmap from the mobile device. In someembodiments, the multi-dimensional bitmap comprises a two-dimensionalbitmap.

Turning now to FIG. 9, at 902, method 900 can comprise receiving amulti-dimensional bitmap associated with orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexed symbols and orthogonal frequency division multiplexedsubcarriers, wherein the multi-dimensional bitmap comprises: reservedresource allocations via which signaling information is to becommunicated by the apparatus to a mobile device that receives themulti-dimensional bitmap and via which data information is not to becommunicated from the apparatus, wherein the reserved resourceallocations comprise a first value for selected ones of the orthogonalfrequency division multiplexed symbols of the multi-dimensional bitmapand the orthogonal frequency division multiplexed subcarrier of themulti-dimensional bitmap. At 904, method 900 can comprise receivingsignaling information according to the reserved resource allocations ofthe multi-dimensional bitmap from the mobile device.

Turning now to FIG. 10, the first two steps of method 1000 can comprise902 and 904 of method 900. At 1002, method 1000 can comprise determininga decoding rate of the signaling information, and wherein thedetermining the decoding rate comprises rate matching based on themulti-dimensional bitmap.

Turning now to FIG. 11, at 1102, method 1100 can comprise determining adecoding rate of the signaling information, and wherein the determiningthe decoding rate comprises rate matching based on the multi-dimensionalbitmap. At 1104, method 1100 can comprise receiving signalinginformation according to the reserved resource allocations of themulti-dimensional bitmap from the mobile device.

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of a computer that can be employedin accordance with one or more embodiments. Repetitive description oflike elements employed in other embodiments described herein is omittedfor sake of brevity.

In some embodiments, the computer, or a component of the computer, canbe or be comprised within any number of components described hereincomprising, but not limited to, base station device 102 or mobile device104 (or a component of base station device 102 or mobile device 104). Inorder to provide additional text for various embodiments describedherein, FIG. 12 and the following discussion are intended to provide abrief, general description of a suitable computing environment 1200 inwhich the various embodiments of the embodiment described herein can beimplemented. While the embodiments have been described above in thegeneral context of computer-executable instructions that can run on oneor more computers, those skilled in the art will recognize that theembodiments can be also implemented in combination with other programmodules and/or as a combination of hardware and software.

Generally, program modules comprise routines, programs, components, datastructures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the various methods can be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, comprising single-processor or multiprocessor computersystems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personalcomputers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based orprogrammable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which can beoperatively coupled to one or more associated devices.

The terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and so forth, as used in theclaims, unless otherwise clear by context, is for clarity only anddoesn't otherwise indicate or imply any order in time. For instance, “afirst determination,” “a second determination,” and “a thirddetermination,” does not indicate or imply that the first determinationis to be made before the second determination, or vice versa, etc.

The illustrated embodiments of the embodiments herein can be alsopracticed in distributed computing environments where certain tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Computing devices typically comprise a variety of media, which cancomprise computer-readable (or machine-readable) storage media and/orcommunications media, which two terms are used herein differently fromone another as follows. Computer-readable (or machine-readable) storagemedia can be any available storage media that can be accessed by thecomputer (or a machine, device or apparatus) and comprises both volatileand nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way ofexample, and not limitation, computer-readable (or machine-readable)storage media can be implemented in connection with any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer-readable (ormachine-readable) instructions, program modules, structured data orunstructured data. Tangible and/or non-transitory computer-readable (ormachine-readable) storage media can comprise, but are not limited to,random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or othermemory technology, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), digitalversatile disk (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes,magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devicesand/or other media that can be used to store desired information.Computer-readable (or machine-readable) storage media can be accessed byone or more local or remote computing devices, e.g., via accessrequests, queries or other data retrieval protocols, for a variety ofoperations with respect to the information stored by the medium.

In this regard, the term “tangible” herein as applied to storage, memoryor computer-readable (or machine-readable) media, is to be understood toexclude only propagating intangible signals per se as a modifier anddoes not relinquish coverage of all standard storage, memory orcomputer-readable (or machine-readable) media that are not onlypropagating intangible signals per se.

In this regard, the term “non-transitory” herein as applied to storage,memory or computer-readable (or machine-readable) media, is to beunderstood to exclude only propagating transitory signals per se as amodifier and does not relinquish coverage of all standard storage,memory or computer-readable (or machine-readable) media that are notonly propagating transitory signals per se.

Communications media typically embody computer-readable (ormachine-readable) instructions, data structures, program modules orother structured or unstructured data in a data signal such as amodulated data signal, e.g., a channel wave or other transportmechanism, and comprises any information delivery or transport media.The term “modulated data signal” or signals refers to a signal that hasone or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as toencode information in one or more signals. By way of example, and notlimitation, communication media comprise wired media, such as a wirednetwork or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic,RF, infrared and other wireless media.

With reference again to FIG. 12, the example environment 1200 forimplementing various embodiments of the embodiments described hereincomprises a computer 1202, the computer 1202 comprising a processingunit 1204, a system memory 1206 and a system bus 1208. The system bus1208 couples system components comprising, but not limited to, thesystem memory 1206 to the processing unit 1204. The processing unit 1204can be any of various commercially available processors. Dualmicroprocessors and other multi-processor architectures can also beemployed as the processing unit 1204.

The system bus 1208 can be any of several types of bus structure thatcan further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memorycontroller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety ofcommercially available bus architectures. The system memory 1206comprises ROM 1210 and RAM 1212. A basic input/output system (BIOS) canbe stored in a non-volatile memory such as ROM, erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basic routinesthat help to transfer information between elements within the computer1202, such as during startup. The RAM 1212 can also comprise ahigh-speed RAM such as static RAM for caching data.

The computer 1202 further comprises an internal hard disk drive (HDD)1210 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), which internal hard disk drive 1214 can also beconfigured for external use in a suitable chassis (not shown), amagnetic floppy disk drive 1216, (e.g., to read from or write to aremovable diskette 1218) and an optical disk drive 1220, (e.g., readinga CD-ROM disk 1222 or, to read from or write to other high capacityoptical media such as the DVD). The hard disk drive 1214, magnetic diskdrive 1216 and optical disk drive 1220 can be connected to the systembus 1208 by a hard disk drive interface 1224, a magnetic disk driveinterface 1226 and an optical drive interface, respectively. Theinterface 1224 for external drive implementations comprises at least oneor both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 interface technologies. Other externaldrive connection technologies are within contemplation of theembodiments described herein.

The drives and their associated computer-readable (or machine-readable)storage media provide nonvolatile storage of data, data structures,computer-executable instructions, and so forth. For the computer 1202,the drives and storage media accommodate the storage of any data in asuitable digital format. Although the description of computer-readable(or machine-readable) storage media above refers to a hard disk drive(HDD), a removable magnetic diskette, and a removable optical media suchas a CD or DVD, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the artthat other types of storage media which are readable by a computer, suchas zip drives, magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, cartridges, andthe like, can also be used in the example operating environment, andfurther, that any such storage media can contain computer-executableinstructions for performing the methods described herein.

A number of program modules can be stored in the drives and RAM 1212,comprising an operating system 1230, one or more application programs1232, other program modules 1234 and program data 1236. All or portionsof the operating system, applications, modules, and/or data can also becached in the RAM 1212. The systems and methods described herein can beimplemented utilizing various commercially available operating systemsor combinations of operating systems.

A communication device can enter commands and information into thecomputer 1202 through one or more wired/wireless input devices, e.g., akeyboard 1238 and a pointing device, such as a mouse 1240. Other inputdevices (not shown) can comprise a microphone, an infrared (IR) remotecontrol, a joystick, a game pad, a stylus pen, touch screen or the like.These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit1204 through an input device interface 1242 that can be coupled to thesystem bus 1208, but can be connected by other interfaces, such as aparallel port, an IEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a universal serialbus (USB) port, an IR interface, etc.

A monitor 1244 or other type of display device can be also connected tothe system bus 1208 via an interface, such as a video adapter 1246. Inaddition to the monitor 1244, a computer typically comprises otherperipheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.

The computer 1202 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer(s) 1248. The remotecomputer(s) 1248 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, apersonal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainmentappliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallycomprises many or all of the elements described relative to the computer1202, although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device1250 is illustrated. The logical connections depicted comprisewired/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 1252 and/orlarger networks, e.g., a wide area network (WAN) 1254. Such LAN and WANnetworking environments are commonplace in offices and companies, andfacilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all ofwhich can connect to a global communications network, e.g., theInternet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1202 can beconnected to the local network 1252 through a wired and/or wirelesscommunication network interface or adapter 1256. The adapter 1256 canfacilitate wired or wireless communication to the LAN 1252, which canalso comprise a wireless AP disposed thereon for communicating with thewireless adapter 1256.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 1202 cancomprise a modem 1258 or can be connected to a communications server onthe WAN 1254 or has other means for establishing communications over theWAN 1254, such as by way of the Internet. The modem 1258, which can beinternal or external and a wired or wireless device, can be connected tothe system bus 1208 via the input device interface 1242. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 1202 orportions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device1250. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areexample and other means of establishing a communications link betweenthe computers can be used.

The computer 1202 can be operable to communicate with any wirelessdevices or entities operatively disposed in wireless communication,e.g., a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, portabledata assistant, communications satellite, any piece of equipment orlocation associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk,news stand, restroom), and telephone. This can comprise WirelessFidelity (Wi-Fi) and BLUETOOTH® wireless technologies. Thus, thecommunication can be a defined structure as with a conventional networkor simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices.

Wi-Fi can allow connection to the Internet from a couch at home, a bedin a hotel room or a conference room at work, without wires. Wi-Fi is awireless technology similar to that used in a cell phone that enablessuch devices, e.g., computers, to send and receive data indoors and out;anywhere within the range of a femto cell device. Wi-Fi networks useradio technologies called IEEE 802.11 (a, b, g, n, etc.) to providesecure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can beused to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wirednetworks (which can use IEEE 802.3 or Ethernet). Wi-Fi networks operatein the unlicensed 2.4 and 5 GHz radio bands, at an 11 Mbps (802.11a) or54 Mbps (802.11b) data rate, for example or with products that containboth bands (dual band), so the networks can provide real-worldperformance similar to the basic 12 Base T wired Ethernet networks usedin many offices.

The embodiments described herein can employ artificial intelligence (AI)to facilitate automating one or more features described herein. Theembodiments (e.g., in connection with automatically identifying acquiredcell sites that provide a maximum value/benefit after addition to anexisting communication network) can employ various AI-based schemes forcarrying out various embodiments thereof. Moreover, the classifier canbe employed to determine a ranking or priority of each cell site of anacquired network. A classifier is a function that maps an inputattribute vector, x=(x1, x2, x3, x4, xn), to a confidence that the inputbelongs to a class, that is, f(x)=confidence(class). Such classificationcan employ a probabilistic and/or statistical-based analysis (e.g.,factoring into the analysis utilities and costs) to prognose or infer anaction that a communication device desires to be automaticallyperformed. A support vector machine (SVM) is an example of a classifierthat can be employed. The SVM operates by finding a hypersurface in thespace of possible inputs, which the hypersurface attempts to split thetriggering criteria from the non-triggering events. Intuitively, thismakes the classification correct for testing data that is near, but notidentical to training data. Other directed and undirected modelclassification approaches comprise, e.g., naïve Bayes, Bayesiannetworks, decision trees, neural networks, fuzzy logic models, andprobabilistic classification models providing different patterns ofindependence can be employed. Classification as used herein also isinclusive of statistical regression that is utilized to develop modelsof priority.

As will be readily appreciated, one or more of the embodiments canemploy classifiers that are explicitly trained (e.g., via a generictraining data) as well as implicitly trained (e.g., via observingcommunication device behavior, operator preferences, historicalinformation, receiving extrinsic information). For example, SVMs can beconfigured via a learning or training phase within a classifierconstructor and feature selection module. Thus, the classifier(s) can beused to automatically learn and perform a number of functions,comprising but not limited to determining according to a predeterminedcriteria which of the acquired cell sites will benefit a maximum numberof subscribers and/or which of the acquired cell sites will add minimumvalue to the existing communication network coverage, etc.

As employed herein, the term “processor” can refer to substantially anycomputing processing unit or device comprising, but not limited tocomprising, single-core processors; single-processors with softwaremultithread execution capability; multi-core processors; multi-coreprocessors with software multithread execution capability; multi-coreprocessors with hardware multithread technology; parallel platforms; andparallel platforms with distributed shared memory. Additionally, aprocessor can refer to an integrated circuit, an application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic controller (PLC), acomplex programmable logic device (CPLD), a discrete gate or transistorlogic, discrete hardware components or any combination thereof designedto perform the functions described herein. Processors can exploitnano-scale architectures such as, but not limited to, molecular andquantum-dot based transistors, switches and gates, in order to optimizespace usage or enhance performance of communication device equipment. Aprocessor can also be implemented as a combination of computingprocessing units.

As used herein, terms such as “data storage,” “database,” andsubstantially any other information storage component relevant tooperation and functionality of a component, refer to “memorycomponents,” or entities embodied in a “memory” or components comprisingthe memory. It will be appreciated that the memory components orcomputer-readable (or machine-readable) storage media, described hereincan be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory or can comprise bothvolatile and nonvolatile memory.

Memory disclosed herein can comprise volatile memory or nonvolatilememory or can comprise both volatile and nonvolatile memory. By way ofillustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory can comprise readonly memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmableROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM) or flash memory.Volatile memory can comprise random access memory (RAM), which acts asexternal cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM isavailable in many forms such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM),synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhancedSDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM).The memory (e.g., data storages, databases) of the embodiments areintended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any othersuitable types of memory.

What has been described above comprises mere examples of variousembodiments. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes ofdescribing these examples, but one of ordinary skill in the art canrecognize that many further combinations and permutations of the presentembodiments are possible. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed and/orclaimed herein are intended to embrace all such alterations,modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and scope ofthe appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that the term“comprises” is used in either the detailed description or the claims,such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term“comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as atransitional word in a claim.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, by a devicecomprising a processor from network equipment of a communicationnetwork, a two-dimensional bitmap, the two-dimensional bitmap beingconstructed from a first bitmap representing orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing symbols in a time domain and a second bitmaprepresenting subcarriers in a frequency domain; determining, by thedevice, first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols, of theorthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols, that have beenassigned a first value in the first bitmap; determining, by the device,first subcarriers, of the subcarriers, that have been assigned the firstvalue in the second bitmap; and configuring, by the device, firsttime-frequency resource elements, which correspond to an intersection ofthe first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols in the timedomain and the first subcarriers in the frequency domain, forcommunication of signaling information with the network equipmentwithout configuring any of the first time-frequency resource elementsfor communication of data information with the network equipment.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: determining, by the device,second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols, of theorthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols and distinct from thefirst orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols, that have beenassigned a second value, distinct from the first value, in the firstbitmap; and determining, by the device, second subcarriers, of thesubcarriers and distinct from the first subcarriers, that have beenassigned the second value in the second bitmap.
 3. The method of claim2, further comprising: configuring, by the device, second time-frequencyresource elements, which correspond to a union of the second orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing symbols in the time domain and thesecond subcarriers in the frequency domain, for communication of datainformation with the network equipment without configuring any of thesecond time-frequency resource elements for communication of signalinginformation with the network equipment.
 4. The method of claim 3,further comprising: receiving, by the device, a transmission from thenetwork equipment via a physical downlink channel on a secondtime-frequency resource element of the second time-frequency resourceelements.
 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the first value is a one andthe second value is a zero.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein a totalnumber of bits allocated for the two-dimensional bitmap is a sum of afirst number of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbolsrepresented by the first bitmap and a second number of the subcarriersrepresented by the second bitmap.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein thenetwork equipment is a base station device.
 8. The method of claim 1,wherein the device is a mobile device.
 9. A system, comprising: aprocessor; and a memory that stores executable instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor, facilitate performance of operations,comprising: receiving a multi-dimensional bitmap from network equipmentof a communication network, wherein the multi-dimensional bitmapcomprises a first bitmap representing orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing symbols in a time domain and a second bitmap, overlaid onthe first bitmap, representing subcarriers in a frequency domain;determining first orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols, ofthe orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbols, that have beenassigned a first value in the first bitmap; determining firstsubcarriers, of the subcarriers, that have been assigned the first valuein the second bitmap; and configuring first resource elements,corresponding to positions of the multi-dimensional bitmap that areassociated with both the first orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing symbols and the first subcarriers, for communication ofsignaling information with the network equipment without configuring anyof the first resource elements for communication of data informationwith the network equipment.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein theoperations further comprise: determining second orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing symbols, of the orthogonal frequency divisionmultiplexing symbols and distinct from the first orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing symbols, that have been assigned a second value,distinct from the first value, in the first bitmap; and determiningsecond subcarriers, of the subcarriers and distinct from the firstsubcarriers, that have been assigned the second value in the secondbitmap.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the positions of themulti-dimensional bitmap are first positions, and wherein the operationsfurther comprise: configuring second resource elements, corresponding tosecond positions of the multi-dimensional bitmap that are associatedwith elements of the multi-dimensional bitmap selected from a groupcomprising the second orthogonal frequency division multiplexing symbolsand the second subcarriers, for communication of data information withthe network equipment without configuring any of the second resourceelements for communication of signaling information with the networkequipment.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations furthercomprise: receiving a transmission from the network equipment, via aphysical downlink channel, on a second resource element of the secondresource elements.
 13. The system of claim 10, wherein the first valueis “1” and the second value is “0”.
 14. The system of claim 9, wherein atotal number of bits allocated for the multi-dimensional bitmap is a sumof a first number of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexingsymbols represented by the first bitmap and a second number of thesubcarriers represented by the second bitmap.
 15. A non-transitorymachine-readable medium, comprising executable instructions that, whenexecuted by a processor, facilitate performance of operations,comprising: receiving, from network equipment of a communicationnetwork, a two-dimensional bitmap, the two-dimensional bitmap comprisinga first bitmap representing time-domain symbols and a second bitmap,overlaid on the first bitmap, representing frequency-domain subcarriers;determining first time-domain symbols, of the time-domain symbols, thathave been assigned a first value in the first bitmap; determining firstfrequency-domain subcarriers, of the frequency-domain subcarriers, thathave been assigned the first value in the second bitmap; and configuringfirst time-frequency resource elements, which correspond to respectivepositions of the two-dimensional bitmap that are associated with boththe first time-domain symbols and the first frequency-domainsubcarriers, for communication of signaling information with the networkequipment without configuring any of the first time-frequency resourceelements for communication of data information with the networkequipment.
 16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15,wherein the operations further comprise: determining second time-domainsymbols, of the time-domain symbols and distinct from the firsttime-domain symbols, that have been assigned a second value, distinctfrom the first value, in the first bitmap; and determining secondfrequency-domain subcarriers, of the frequency-domain subcarriers anddistinct from the first frequency-domain subcarriers, that have beenassigned the second value in the second bitmap.
 17. The non-transitorymachine-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the positions of thetwo-dimensional bitmap are first positions, and wherein the operationsfurther comprise: configuring second time-frequency resource elements,corresponding to second positions of the two-dimensional bitmap, whichare associated with elements of the two-dimensional bitmap selected froma group comprising the second time-domain symbols and the secondfrequency-domain subcarriers, for communication of data information withthe network equipment without configuring any of the second resourceelements for communication of signaling information with the networkequipment.
 18. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 17,wherein the operations further comprise: receiving a transmission fromthe network equipment via a physical downlink channel on a secondtime-frequency resource element of the second time-frequency resourceelements.
 19. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 16,wherein the first value is a one and the second value is a zero.
 20. Thenon-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 15, wherein a totalnumber of bits allocated for the two-dimensional bitmap is a sum of afirst number of the time-domain symbols represented by the first bitmapand a second number of the frequency-domain subcarriers represented bythe second bitmap.